With the popularization of DIY (do it yourself), many half-finished products serving as material for DIY are available in the gift market now. A user can purchase such half-finished products and use them to produce desired DIY gifts in an easy, convenient and quick manner. The user can also extend personal ideas in the DIY gifts to make them unique.
Among others, cross-stitch embroidery has been used in producing unique DIY crafts. Cross-stitch is a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which x-shaped stitches are used to form a picture. Cross-stitch is usually executed on easily countable even-weave fabric. The embroiderer stitches in each direction so as to form the picture. Nowadays, needlecraft kits for cross-stitch are readily available in the market. It is no doubt the best choice for both a green hand and a skilled embroiderer of cross-stitch to purchase a needlecraft kit for producing a DIY cross-stitch work.
The needlecraft kits available in the market usually include embroidery threads, embroidery needles, a piece of Aida cloth, an instruction sheet, and a cross-stitch chart. These items are usually arbitrarily disposed in a clear polybag, a paper box, or a blister package while the embroidery threads are usually tied into bundles. A user has to sort and separate the embroidery threads of different colors from one another before using them.
To start the embroidery, the user first picks one strand of embroidery thread from multiple thread bundles for stitching, and then determines to which one of the embroidery threads indicated in the instruction sheet the picked thread corresponds. A large quantity of embroidery threads close in color is frequently used to complete a large-size embroidery design. However, the instruction sheet usually describes the thread colors by color names without color samples, and a user lacking sufficient experiences in embroidery has difficulty in determining correct embroidery thread colors simply from the described color names. There are times the user uses embroidery threads of wrong colors to stitch and must take time to remove the wrong threads from the Aida cloth later. Sometimes, the use of wrong embroidery threads would also result in shortage of the embroidery threads.
After picking the embroidery thread according to the instruction sheet, the user needs to check the instruction sheet for the type of stitch and the number of strands with which the picked embroidery thread is to be used for embroidering, and then checks the cross-stitch chart for index marks the same as those shown in the instruction sheet to know the positions on the Aida cloth at where the picked embroidery thread is to be used for stitching. That is, in the currently available needlecraft kits, all information related to the embroidery, such as the thread color, the stitches to be used, the index marks shown on the cross-stitch chart, the number of strands of threads to be used, or the special skill of combining different embroidery threads, is printed on the instruction sheet. In the process of embroidery, the user has to repeat the procedures of picking a thread from the bundles, checking the instruction sheet for correct stitch, number of strands and index marks for the picked thread, and finding corresponding index marks on the cross-stitch chart to ensure the positions to be stitched with the picked thread. Errors tend to occur while the user repeatedly deals with these complicated procedures.
Moreover, the use of incorrect embroidery threads would usually result in shortage of the wrongly used embroidery threads. Since the embroidery threads packed in the currently available needlecraft kits are not identified with part numbers while there are many threads close in color, the user is prevented from conveniently and correctly ordering or purchasing additional lengths from the supplier to make up the insufficient embroidery threads. It is therefore desirable to improve the manner of supplying and packaging embroidery threads in the existing needlecraft kits for cross stitch, in order to eliminate consumers' confusion in using the embroidery threads and advantageously expand the suppliers' business in the market.